Marriage licence bonds and allegations have proved to be very useful in my research. Sometimes I might see that a marriage was performed by licence, and I ask the Essex Record Office if they have the marriage licence allegation (MLA) for it. Other times, if I’m struggling to find a marriage, I email them to ask if they could look up the names in their printed index, and it’s helped me to locate the marriage.
MLAs can give me loads of info – where each party resided, where they intended to marry, sometimes their ages, occupations, as well as parents and family members. To see the sort of information you can find in an MLA, have a look at the ones I’ve transcribed. But wouldn’t it be nice if they were more accessible?
There was a terrible accident at the ropery on Wivenhoe High Street on 19th February 1855, when a boiler exploded. It killed three lads – Henry Browne (aged 14), John Jerrett (19) and William Southgate (14).[1]These three boys appear in the burial register for Wivenhoe, 1813-1859. Henry was the son of William Browne, who owned the business. John and William were employed by Captain Jerrett of Liverpool (in fact, John was his son), and they were on the premises because they were assisting in the fitting of some rigging on Jerrett’s ship. It is thought the lads were standing by the boiler for warmth. The explosion caused a huge amount of damage. Poor John Jerrett was, as the newspaper report of the inquest said, “completely dismembered” and Henry and William were carried through the roof.[2]Essex Standard, 23rd February 1855. The jury recorded a verdict of accidental death, the steam pipe having frozen and the boiler being empty of water – a faulty “float” had shown it to contain water when it did not. They made recommendations about boilers having gauges fitted, “precautions which they earnestly recommended all owners of steam-engines to adopt, with a view to the safety of those in their employ.”[3]Essex Standard, 23rd February 1855
Although this accidents happened in the past, we still hear about tragedies in the workplace even today. The most horrifying, perhaps, was the 2013 collapse of the Rana Plaza clothing factory in Bangladesh, which killed over 1,000 workers and injured about 2,500.
So, on Workers’ Memorial Day, spare a thought for those who died just doing their jobs. And think about your own workplace – do you think there are dangers there which could be addressed to improve your safety? Are there areas which you think pose a danger to your health and those around you? It is thought that across the world, each year over two million men and women die due to workplace accidents and illnesses.
Strange things start to happen if you can trace your family back far enough, and if you can find a thread which is, let’s be honest… posh.
John Cardinall’s arms in Tendring – he’s related to all these people too. By Roger W. Haworth.
In trying to work out the family of my 6 x gt-grandmother, Elizabeth Cardinall (1741-1803), I’ve been studying the Cardinall family. I think her father was William Cardinall of Arlesford, which makes her a descendant of Charles Cardinall (?-1624) and his father, William Cardinall (1509-1568). I’ve been putting together the various strands of this family, and it means that, through Elizabeth, I’m connected to Sir Thomas Bowes, Admiral Nelson, P. G. Wodehouse, the Walpoles… shall I go on? What’s amusing about this is that because Elizabeth Cardinall is the ancestor of vast numbers of quite ordinary people who can trace themselves back to villages on the River Colne, such as Fingringhoe, Rowhedge and Wivenhoe, it means that a huge number of people are, in fact, related to some rather grand people who, if you’re a wheelwright, builder or a librarian or an accountant or a plumber or a gamekeeper, may come as a rather enormous surprise. So let’s start with….
I’d never been to WDYTYA? Live before, and wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. Everyone speaks about it in excitable tones, and now that it’s held in Birmingham at the NEC, rather close to where I live, it would be rude if I didn’t go.
It was so interesting speaking to people involved in genealogy in different ways. I really learnt a lot, and by the end of the day was exhausted from wandering about from stall to stall, and absorbing lots of new information. I was, however, pepped up by an enormous scone (slathered in clotted cream and Essex’s finest Tiptree jam!) at the 1939 tearooms, which was most welcome.
After a great deal of work, the new interface for FreeREG is now online: FreeREG2. It sits over a database that contains 20,000,000 parish register transcriptions (and counting) from across the UK. I transcribe for FreeREG (the transcriptions I do are the same ones I put online here) and also use it for my own research, so I’ve been having fun acquainting myself with the new system.
My great-great-grandfather, James Thomas Ashworth (1849-1890) was a cigarmaker, who lived in Bermondsey. There’s no surviving photos of him, as far as I know, but what he has left behind him (other than umpteen descendants) is this lovely handmade miniature chest of drawers, which he crafted from cigar boxes as a gift for his wife, Elizabeth.
Whilst researching the Cardinall family, I got slightly sidetracked with Thomas Bowes’ family. In 1603, Charles Cardinall, widowed, married Bridget Bowes, and they had one son, James, who, it seems increasingly possible, is one of my ancestors. Born in Dedham in about 1561, the daughter of Ralph Starling, Bridget had been married to Thomas Bowes of East Bergholt (just over the border from Dedham in Suffolk). The 1634 Visitation of Essex shows that Thomas and Bridget had two children: Thomas, who became Sir Thomas, the magistrate who prosecuted “witches” found by the infamous Matthew Hopkins, and Elizabeth. [1]Note that Thomas mentions two more daughters in his 1598 will – Judith and Anne. Elizabeth, according to this Visitation, married Martin Salter of Flowton in Suffolk.
Part of the entry for the Bowes family, 1634 Visitation of Essex
An interesting note from 1745 in West Bergholt‘s parish register shows us that the vicar got muddled up with some of his parishioners’ surnames. Understanding the accent of your ancestor’s region can be really helpful if you want to trace them back further. In this video I talk about certain features of the accent(s) found in the north of Essex and the south of Suffolk, delivered in my authentic north-east Essex twang.
Image reproduced by courtesy of the Essex Record Office.
I’m currently transcribing the earliest register for Ramsey St. Michael in Essex. Although the very early register is lost, entries survive from 1645 onwards. I was intrigued to see if Ramsey was as affected by the plague of 1665 as had neighbouring Great Oakley. There certainly appear to have been an increase in burials that year, particularly in August, September and October – this is the same period as plague deaths were noted in Great Oakley’s register.[1]At this point, there’s about twelve burials a year in the Ramsey register. In just those three months of August, September and October, there were ten burials, and those three months are also … Continue reading But there’s no notes in the Ramsey register, so we can’t say for sure what those people died of.
But moving into 1666, something unusual appears. From 5th August to 26th August, the Ramsey parish register records the burials of nine sailors. By why?
At this point, there’s about twelve burials a year in the Ramsey register. In just those three months of August, September and October, there were ten burials, and those three months are also the same period for plague deaths appearing in Great Oakley.
On the junction of Greenfield Road and Vivian Road in Harborne, Birmingham, some refurb work has recently taken place on what was once a furniture upholsterer’s called Connolly’s. I loved looking in the window of that shop – whether it was an old chair reupholstered in surprising new fabric, or a classic art deco sofa and armchair set, there was always something in the window that grasped my attention. But this morning, what caught my eye was this brick: is it really 132 years old?
